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Arsenal's English forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (L) vies with Liverpool's English midfielder Raheem Sterling during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield in Liverpool, north-west England on September 2, 2012. (AFP)
Liverpool’s biggest loss will not be a Champions league place or even a Europa league space.
The kop faithful are used to that.
It will be the loss of Raheem Sterling.
The 17-year old mercurial forward – the best Liverpool player by far so far – is basically being paraded for clubs with real title-winning potential to strike.
Liverpool might lose him as early as the January transfer window, depending on how Brendan Rodgers continues to showcase Sterling’s talent while having no back-up when the tiki-taka fails.
The Anfield faithful cannot expect every player from the Liverpool stable to have a Steven Gerrard-type of attitude.
In a remarkably open and candid interview with the Daily Mail on Saturday, September 1, the Liverpool skipper in in an exclusive interview with Matt Lawton, said he would never leave Liverpool, even though he knows he will probably not win the Premier League with them.
Gerrard in the interview says how he turned down Manchester United and Chelsea, repeatedly, simply because he could not see himself playing for anyone other than Liverpool.
Gerrard does have a Champions League medal though.
Sterling, at his age, surely can only dream about a Champions League title, leave alone a Premier League crown.
That will remain a dream if Brendan Rodgers is unable to work out a Plan B. To come to the table with some semblance of tactical nous.
The likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United will be watching closely.
However, it is Arsenal that have the set-up that Sterling’s game seems most likely to thrive in.
A mix of the best parts of Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips, Sterling will get much bigger than those two. He already was able to go toe-to-toe with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and win.
Under the tutelage and pressure-less demands of Arsene Wenger, Sterling can be what Theo Walcott is not – a match winner.
Liverpool should not get too attached to him, or they need to start winning.
With the current set-up, the former is more likely.
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